’Mech of the Week: CRK-500*-* Crockett
Crockett. Named for Davy Crockett, the frontiersman hero/politician who died at the Alamo. (And whose name later became used for the lowest grade nuclear weapons in the BattleTech arsenal.) This 85-tonner outdid even the most optimistic of its designers’ hopes.
Designed in response to the Hidden Wars and the shuffling of front-line units away from training duties, the
Crockett was designed to be an assault/heavy trainer in the same mold as the medium-class
Chameleon. Because Blakenburg Technologies took the design requirements of being battle-capable seriously, within ten years of its introduction date of 2735, SLDF commanders were discovering how effective the design could be on the real battlefield.
As a training design, the original CRK-5003-1
Crockett does not waste money on expensive materials like endo-steel or ferro-fibrous armor. Nor does the design use an extralight engine. Instead, a 255-rated Strand power plant gives the design equivalent ground speed to the older
Stalker design. Three jump jets give the design additional maneuverability (and allow for training pilots for the heavier
Highlander, among others). Armor protection is at maximum and is laid out in a 9, 40/14, 27/9, 28, 36 pattern (head, center front/rear, side front/rear, arms, legs respectively).
The weapons-load consists of a Class-10 LB-X autocannon, twin extended-model large lasers, twin small lasers, and twin 6-pack SRM launchers. While each launcher has one ton of ammunition allocated to them, the autocannon has an astounding three tons. CASE is not utilized (it is a trainer, after all). Fifteen double-strength heat sinks struggle with the heat load of a full jump/alpha strike (which would exactly activate the much more recent TSM technology).
As the
Crockett joined actual combat formations the one complaint about the design appears to have been the amount of ammunition that had a habit of being critted and sending the pilot on a premature trip to the afterlife. In an effort to deal with this flaw, the design was given the Royal treatment. The CRK-5003-1b model utilizes an endo-steel skeleton, and swaps the autocannon, SRM racks, and small lasers for a Gauss Rifle (with two tons of ammo), four medium-class pulse lasers and two standard medium lasers. Armor allocation is in the pattern of 9, 35/19, 25/11, 28, 36 (which, for the sake of clarity, was the allocation for the main design according to the 3050 Upgrade TRO). While this is a nice design, the space requirements of it all meant that the flaw they intended to correct was replaced by the possibility of a Gauss detonation.
The Succession Wars were not kind to the
Crockett. According to both TRO: 3039, and TRO: 3050 Upgrade, the
Crockett did not survive long into that period, mostly due to how effective they were, and thus how quickly they were pressed to the front lines. Based on the MUL, though, it appears that in 2881, the CRK-5003-0 downgraded model did enter service for a short time. The most recent record sheet of that design uses the same armor compliment of the Royal model, and the only other differences being the downgrade of the Class-10 autocannon to a standard model (fed by two tons of ammo), and the heat sinks being single-strength models.
Aside from a few refurbished models altered enough to be classified as the
Katana, new
Crocketts did not appear until 3054, with the reopening of the Terra production lines. The Blakists continued producing the design after claiming Terra. In order to replace the production they lost ComStar helped to upgrade Grumium Creations’ factories. Two variants were produced from them, the first appearing in 3062, the CRK-5003-3, which removes two points of armor from each arm and leg to install CASE in the right torso (moving all the Class-10 ammo there, and the SRM ammo to the right arm). The second upgrade showed up in 3063, the CRK-5004-1 (or CRK-5003-4 in one set of sheets). That model differs from the -5003-3 in restoring the armor to maximum, trades the small lasers for extended-models, downgrades the SRM launchers to 4-packs, drops one ton of Class-10 ammo, and adds an Improved C3 system.
The final variant is the Word of Blake model, the CRK-5005-1, which showed up in 3070. The differences from the -5004-1 model is that one heat sink, one ton of SRM ammo and both small lasers were removed, the engine was replaced with a light-class engine, the cockpit replaced with a small version. All of this to upgrade to the jump jets to Improved models, and adds two more.
The
Crockett has spawned at least one other design, the
Katana. On top of that, its chassis was used to build the
Black Watch, and there are some rumors around that the Falcons may have used its stripped-down nature as basis for the
Wakazashi.
Using one is straightforward enough. The original pilots of the design would maintain distance to whittle the enemy’s armor down. Then, before they could accurately target him, the pilot would jump behind the other machine, daring him to turn. If he didn’t, the
Crockett could shoot him in the back. If he did turn, the
Crockett’s friends could do so. This is still effective for the upgraded models. All models have heat issues. The two with the largest heat woes are the rarest, the downgraded Succession Wars model, and the Royal variant. The last two variants can allow for better targeting by teammates, simply due to the C3 system.
Fighting one is a chore, mostly due to all but one having maximum protection. High-powered weaponry works, but you need a lot of it. Heat-causing weapons also work, but they tend to be much shorter-ranged. Make note of any friends he may have. If able to target locations, the right torso works on most models, even the CASEd ones. All but the Royal variant carry at least three tons of ammunition in that area, making it possible to cascade the pilot to death. As for the Royal variant, its left torso holds the Gauss Rifle, which can cripple the machine. Dealing with the two C3 models depends on which end of the network they are on. If they are close, jamming them with ECM is a must. If they are the back-up for the fast, light PITA, deal with him first.
While I am unsure if the factory on Terra survived the Liberation, if it did, I can see this design still being produced. As a trainer that can be pressed into military action if needed, it would seem to be sort of a cost-benefit winner.